Programs are generally held the fourth Tuesday of the month January through May and September through November at the Community Room at the Madelyn Helling Library in Nevada City. Doors open at 6:15 PM and a brief business meeting begins at 6:45 PM. The featured program begins about 7:00PM.
In June we have our annual picnic and tailgate sale, in July and August we are busy with the Nevada County Fair, and in December we hold an annual holiday pot luck gathering.
♦ UPCOMING PROGRAMS/GUILD MEETINGS
(Scroll to the bottom for recent programs)
**Tuesday, January 24, 2023
Gretchen Hilyard Boyce – Fiber Travels to Portugal
Doors open at 6:15pm, meeting starts at 6:45pm
Hybrid meeting: In-person (masks required) and via Zoom
Gretchen Hilyard Boyce will present photos from her travels to the Arraiolos region of Portugal this past summer with Threadwritten Textiles. Hear about the weavers, spinners, textile manufacturers, shepherds and artisans keeping Portugal’s rich fiber crafts alive. Gretchen will share about the traditional way to make Arraiolos rugs, Portugal’s palette of natural dyes, efforts to revive endangered sheep breeds, and the hidden symbols in the weaving patterns of the region. Come take an armchair trip to Portugal with Gretchen and gain some inspiration for your next fiber project!
**Tuesday, February 28, 2023
Ann Coddington – Sculptural Basketry
Doors open at 6:15pm, meeting starts at 6:45pm
Hybrid meeting: In-person (masks required) and via Zoom.
Ann Coddington utilizes a variety of traditional and innovative fiber techniques including twining, looping, lashing and netting in her sculptural forms. Her recent work is deeply rooted in organic vessels that reference the body, natural and found objects, that enter into a complex dialogue about our place in the world and our impact on the environment. Her work has been shown across the United States and Internationally with recent solo shows at the Contemporary Art Center in Peoria, Governors State University in Illinois, and upcoming at the Praxis Fiber Workshop in Cleveland. Coddington’s work was also selected for inclusion in the 2022 International Fiber Biennial in Pittsburgh this past summer.
Ann is a Professor of Art and Graduate Coordinator at Eastern Illinois University. She received her MFA from the University of Illinois Sculpture Department in 1993, and her BFA from the Colorado State University Fibers Department in1986. She is very active in teaching sculptural twining workshops around the world. Ann recently taught at the Penland School of Crafts, Indigo Blue Hawaii studios, the Chicago North Suburban Needle Arts Guild and upcoming for Fibre Arts Australia. Coddington serves as the co-chair of Exhibitions and as a member of the board for the National Basketry Organization.
**Tuesday, March 28, 2023
Elizabeth Williamson – Executive Director of the Handweaves Guild of America
Doors open at 6:15pm, meeting starts at 6:45pm
Hybrid meeting: In-person (masks required) and via Zoom.
Elizabeth Williamson earned her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Studies from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. She began her career as a Publicist for the Hara Complex and then as a Talent Representative for Kismet Productions. In 2006 Elizabeth joined Columbus Children’s Theatre as Managing Director where she oversaw a turnaround in the theatre’s finances and set new records for program participation. As a result of her work, she was a finalist for Columbus Business First’s 2010 CFO of the Year program. In 2013 the Aiken Center for the Arts in South Carolina hired Elizabeth as Executive Director. While in this position, she formed the Aiken Cultural Leadership Consortium to unite and support the arts and cultural organizations of Aiken for the purpose of collaboration, advocacy and community. Since 2015 Elizabeth has served as Executive Director of the Handweavers Guild of America in Suwanee, Georgia. As Executive Director, Elizabeth has been responsible for leading the board through the development of a strategic plan, consolidating technology platforms for a better customer experience, and nearly doubling the organization’s Convergence® conference attendance.
**Tuesday, April 25, 2023
Heidi Leugers – Value Keys (Major and Minor)
Doors open at 6:15pm, meeting starts at 6:45pm
Hybrid meeting: In-person (masks required) and via Zoom.
Join Heidi Leugers, founder of Reclaimed Wool, as she shares how value keys influence the mood of a fiber project/artwork, including a garment.
Heidi’s studio, Reclaimed Wool, is a living exploration of sustainable expression; since 1998 she has ‘reclaimed’ all the waste created in her studio to make new items. Heidi’s zero waste practice is featured in the first series of academic texts to query a college art curriculum’s relationship to ecology, biology and materiality: Cycle-Logical Art – Recycling Matters for Eco-Art (Linda Weintraub, Artnow Publications, 2007).
Tens of thousands of her original designs have been sold at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the American Folk Art Museum, Chihuly Garden and Glass, Milwaukee Art Museum, Brooklyn Museum, DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, and Timberline Lodge, among hundreds of other museums, stores and galleries across the United States.
In 1996 Heidi shifted from knitting to hand spinning and embraced her true métier: wool! Her first task was to “unmask” wool yarn and reveal each sheep breed’s distinct qualities: wild, hairy, coarse, curly, soft, springy – by making miniature sheep from hand washed raw wool and recycled sweaters. Heidi has created functional and whimsical items from wool fiber, fleece, fabric, old garments, yarn and felt for 25 years. Utilizing her unique process for hand washing wool for lock integrity, Heidi once washed a black Navajo Churro lamb fleece for Deborah Robson, grown and raised by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts.
After earning a B.A. in both economics and French, Heidi trained as a stock broker in the North Twin Tower (WTC, Manhattan), then worked as an underwriter before returning to school to study printmaking, painting and art history at the Hartford Art School.
Reclaimed Wool website
♦ UPCOMING EVENTS
** Knitting Group meets in person on the 2nd Thursday of the month.
3-5pm, location varies. All knitters welcome (beginners to experienced).
Members will receive further details via email.
**Weaving Group meets on the 2nd Saturday of the month via Zoom. All weavers (from beginner to experienced) are welcome to join us as we share and learn from each other via Zoom (and occasionally in person). Members will receive further details via email.
**Second Saturday Social. FFG is hosting Social Saturdays at the Community Room of the Madelyn Helling Library in Nevada City. Guild members will meet for knitting, spinning, and any other fiber fun you can carry with you. Members will receive further details via email.
♦ RECENT PROGRAMS
**Tuesday, October 25, 2022
Alanna Wilcox – Color, Fiber and Dye
Doors open at 6:15pm, meeting starts at 6:45pm
Hybrid meeting: In-person (masks required) and via Zoom
Are you a fiber enthusiast that is curious about color? Maybe you’re even “dyeing” to learn more about how and when color is applied to fiber influences a project’s visual outcome. In this lecture, Alanna will explore color perception, color theory, and how that can be applied to the projects we create as fiber artists. Alanna breaks down color theory in a very easy to understand way for the novice fiber colorist and then deep dives into the nuances that can be tapped into when one is aware of how human perception of color (and how that perception) can guide our choices in creating with fiber, yarn, and handmade fabrics.
Alanna Wilcox is a fiber artist, professional educator, Master Spinner and color specialist with acid dyes. She loves empowering fellow fiber enthusiasts by helping them overcome their creative challenges, learn new skills, and achieve their fiber related goals through her expert instruction via online workshops and books. Alanna is constantly making things, especially projects that have to do with color and fiber to express her creativity. She earned the OHS Spinning Certificate with distinction in 2015 and the Master Spinner Certificate in 2017. She wrote and self-published the spinning book “A New Spin on Color” in addition to developing over 2,000 precision dye formulas to color match digital images and HEX colors. Her newest book “Color Alchemy: From Digital to Dye” will be available in a course she is developing for dyers and spinners that pairs the science of color with the art of dyeing. Working with fiber is something that she lives and breathes, sometimes literally.
**Tuesday, September 27, 2022
Super Summer Show & Tell and Annual Planning Meeting
In-person and via Zoom
♦ RECENT EVENTS
**Tuesday, December 6, 2022 – ANNUAL GUILD HOLIDAY PARTY
We had a lovely pot luck party connecting with old and new friends. We also collected many donations for local foster children and had an entertaining fiber gift exchange. Seasons Greetings to all!
**Nevada County Fair – August 10-14, 2022
**We held our Annual Summer Picnic on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. We met in person at Pioneer Park to celebrate the end of the Guild’s fiscal year and the beginning of summer. We had a potluck and shared our Guild Challenge projects during Show & Tell.
